So how can you manage a siesta in today’s busy workplace? For a start, try calling it a power nap, and mention to co-workers that Albert Einstein did a lot of napping while coming up with his theory of relativity. Next, find a quite spot, preferably one in which you can close the door, switch off lights and phones, and be undisturbed for half an hour. Set an alarm so you don’t worry about oversleeping. Get as comfortable as possible in a couch or padded chair. And with apologies to Mr. Churchill, I don’t recommend taking off all your clothes; save that kind of behavior for when you’re already established as an eccentric and a leader of the free world. Wrap up in a coat or light blanket, as body temperatures drop during sleep. Read something light (nothing for work!) and when your eyelids feel heavy, let yourself drift off...

The Spanish recommend sleeping about twenty minutes; dozing for two or three times that long can leave you groggy. If so, you’ll find the Spanish merienda, an afternoon snack of coffee and cake, will get those eyelids wide open again. Even without the caffeine and sugar rush, I find a siesta leaves me feeling refreshed and alert. And contrary to some popular myths, it actually helps me sleep more deeply at night, too.

My agenda may not require exploring the frontiers of space, defeating the Nazis, or figuring out the space-time continuum, but I count on my siestas to make me more efficient and less likely to suffer burnout, stress, or a fatal heart attack. And they’re fun. To me, that’s worth 20 minutes any day.